President Mori submits proposed amendment to lower requirement in order to ratify an amendment to the FSM Constitution

FSMIS (May 28, 2014): On May 22nd, Federated States of Micronesia President Manny Mori transmitted to Congress a proposed amendment to Section 1 of Article XIV of the FSM Constitution.

The proposal is to lower the vote required to ratify an amendment to the FSM Constitution from a 75 percent of votes cast in 3/4 of the States to 60 percent of votes in 3/4 of the States.

The President wrote, "Although a bill was introduced in Congress on September 11, 2013, I regret that there has been no action taken on the bill and no committee report filed. If it is approved by the 18th Congress, the constitutional amendment is required to be placed on the ballot, preferably in the March 2015 national election".

At the recently concluded State and National Leadership Conference on May 22nd to 23rd, the very issue was part of the agenda. The FSM Department of Justice did a presentation on the proposal showing that this particular constitutional requirement needs revisiting as demographic situations have drastically changed since the supreme law went into effect in 1979. At the meeting, many of the Leaders expressed that the required percentage might have been set at a very difficult, allowing minority control over the preference of a significant majority for too long.

"Effective public education is required to prepare the Nation to make an intelligent decision on an issue of transcendental importance. In this regard, it becomes imperative for the national Government to set aside sufficient time a resources to organize and prepare the necessary logistics", President Mori further indicated.

For more information, contact the Public Information Office at 320-2548 or email fsmpio@mail.fm.